Snakebite First Aid: What to Do and What Not to Do

Old books, including several in our own library, teach cutting the bite, sucking out venom and tying tight bands. Current guidance is clear that these do harm. The only real treatment is antivenom, so the goal of first aid is to get the person to it quickly and avoid making things worse.

Signs of a venomous bite

Puncture marks; bleeding, redness, swelling, bruising or blistering; severe pain. Then possibly nausea, vomiting, trouble seeing or breathing, a fast heart rate and weak pulse, a metallic or rubbery taste, sweating, numbness or tingling, and muscle twitching. Don’t wait for symptoms to get help.

Do

• Get emergency medical care as soon as possible. Don’t drive yourself: the bite can make you dizzy or pass out.
• Keep calm, and lie or sit with the bite in a neutral, comfortable position.
• Remove rings, watches and tight items before swelling starts.
• Wash the bite with soap and water and cover it with a clean, dry dressing.
• Mark the leading edge of tenderness or swelling on the skin with a pen, and write the time beside it. Repeat as it spreads: it tells doctors how fast the venom is moving.
• If you safely can, photograph the snake from a distance to help identify it.

Do not

• Don’t pick up or try to trap the snake. Not even a dead one or a severed head: they can still bite.
• Don’t apply a tourniquet, electric shock or folk remedies.
• Don’t cut or slash the wound.
• Don’t try to suck out the venom.
• Don’t apply ice or soak the wound in water.
• Don’t drink alcohol or take aspirin, ibuprofen or naproxen.

For history’s sake, Dr. Moody’s 1910 chapter on “serpent wounds” shows exactly what we no longer do.